TL;DR
OpenAI launched a beta Business Hub and Business Agents in ChatGPT on November 10, giving eligible companies tools to manage profile information, product feeds and aggregated engagement insights. Founder Francis Davidson said OpenAI acquired his travel startup Odessia; separate reports put OpenAI’s third-quarter revenue at about $10 billion, alongside reported operating losses of $10.9 billion.
OpenAI launched Businesses in ChatGPT in beta on November 10, adding company profiles, product feeds and customer-facing agents to the chatbot as it builds ways for businesses to reach users. On the same day, Odessia founder Francis Davidson said OpenAI had acquired his AI travel startup; separate media reports put OpenAI’s third-quarter revenue at about $10 billion, while also reporting substantial operating losses.
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OpenAI’s new Business Hub lets companies claim a profile, update business information and add product feeds showing prices and availability. According to OpenAI, as reported by Reuters, The Verge and TechCrunch, companies can see aggregated measures including mentions in ChatGPT responses, profile views, website clicks and topics associated with discovery. OpenAI has not publicly detailed how its verification process works.
A second feature, Business Agents, lets eligible US e-commerce and online service businesses offer a separate ChatGPT conversation about their products. Companies provide the agent’s instructions and information; users can ask about offerings, including questions that help compare products. OpenAI says these conversations are labeled and kept separate from a user’s main chat. Businesses can sponsor their agents as destinations for ChatGPT ads, with sponsored placements labeled.
The company says it does not share users’ conversations or Business Agent chats with businesses. It also says Business Hub insights appear only after activity passes unspecified thresholds. Existing OpenAI Enterprise customers and advertisers can claim profiles through their OpenAI representative, while Shopify merchants can connect through Business Hub or Shopify’s admin tools. OpenAI has described the beta as an early step toward bringing businesses further into ChatGPT.
Odessia’s founder, Francis Davidson, announced the acquisition and said he would join OpenAI. The financial terms were not disclosed. An OpenAI spokesperson confirmed Davidson’s hire to TechCrunch, according to that publication. The available source material does not provide further details about Odessia’s technology, staff or plans for the product after the acquisition.
A New Channel for Business Discovery
ChatGPT is becoming a place where users may discover and compare businesses, not just ask for general information. Profiles give companies a way to submit details and product availability, while the reported engagement measures may help them assess how often ChatGPT surfaces their information. The figures are aggregated insights, however, and do not establish that a mention leads to a sale.
For businesses, the launch creates a potential new route to customers and a new set of decisions about maintaining information and paying for visibility. The option to sponsor an agent connects product conversations to OpenAI’s advertising business. OpenAI said in August that ChatGPT Ads had reached a $1 billion annualized revenue run rate; the new tools could provide another format for commercial activity, though the company has not disclosed expected revenue from Business Hub or Business Agents.
The scale of the opportunity remains uncertain. The source material does not give adoption figures, conversion rates or evidence about how much influence business profiles will have on ChatGPT answers. Users, meanwhile, will need clear distinctions between organic recommendations, business-provided information and sponsored placements. OpenAI says sponsored placements are labeled and business chats are separated, but how these distinctions work in practice will matter to trust.
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From Shopping Tests to Business Tools
The launch follows an earlier attempt to make ChatGPT a direct shopping destination. TechCrunch reported that OpenAI had tried direct checkout and a commission model, then retired that effort in March after it failed to gain traction. The new approach puts emphasis on business information, discovery insights and separate product conversations, rather than presenting direct checkout as the central feature.
The comparison with Google Business Profile is useful because both services let companies manage information that can shape how people find them. TechCrunch described the new profiles as making ChatGPT “just a little bit more like Google.” The comparison has limits: OpenAI’s announcement focuses on ChatGPT profiles, aggregated insights and agents, and the source material does not establish that the service offers the same local-search functions or reach as Google’s product.
OpenAI’s financial position gives the business push additional context. The Information first reported third-quarter revenue of about $10 billion. Bloomberg reported that revenue grew nearly 50% from the prior quarter, citing a person familiar with the matter. The Wall Street Journal, as reported by Reuters, put operating losses at $10.9 billion for the same quarter. OpenAI has not published financial statements; CFO Sarah Friar discussed the quarter in an interview with Yahoo Finance, but the source material does not provide independently audited figures.
Adoption, Verification and Returns
Several details remain open. OpenAI has not explained the full verification process, the thresholds for showing engagement insights or how it will measure whether profile views and mentions lead to customer actions. The source material gives no adoption totals, business conversion rates or independent assessment of the accuracy of profile information.
It is also unclear how Business Agents will be selected or presented in answers, beyond the stated eligibility limits and labeling. OpenAI says it does not share user conversations with businesses, but the available details do not specify the complete data-handling rules for each feature. For Odessia, the purchase price, product plans and integration with OpenAI remain undisclosed. The revenue and loss figures are media reports, not figures published in OpenAI financial statements.
What Businesses and Users Will See
OpenAI says Businesses in ChatGPT is starting as a beta. As the rollout develops, companies and users will be able to see how profile claiming, product feeds, discovery insights and separate agents work in practice. The company has not provided a broader launch date or public targets for the number of participating businesses.
Businesses considering the tools will have to watch for updates to eligibility, verification and sponsored placements, then judge the results against their own customer activity. Users can expect businesses to appear in more product conversations, but the available information does not show how frequently that will happen or how the system will balance company-supplied details with other sources. OpenAI has not announced a timeline for Odessia’s integration or released further financial detail for the quarter.
Key Questions
What did OpenAI launch for businesses in ChatGPT?
OpenAI launched a beta Business Hub for claimed company profiles, business details, product feeds and aggregated insights. It also introduced Business Agents for eligible US e-commerce and online service businesses.
Can businesses pay to appear in ChatGPT?
Businesses can sponsor a Business Agent as a destination for ChatGPT ads, and OpenAI says sponsored placements are labeled. The source material does not describe every way companies may appear in ChatGPT answers.
What is known about OpenAI’s acquisition of Odessia?
Odessia founder Francis Davidson announced the acquisition and said he would join OpenAI. The financial terms and plans for Odessia’s product have not been disclosed.
Did OpenAI confirm its reported third-quarter financial figures?
OpenAI has not published financial statements confirming the reported figures. Media reports put third-quarter revenue at about $10 billion and operating losses at $10.9 billion; the loss figure was reported by the Wall Street Journal and relayed by Reuters.
Source: Thorsten Meyer AI
